The mobile nature of handheld electronic devices necessitates the provision of security features such as device locking to prevent the unauthorized use of such devices if stolen or lost by the device user. However, locking mechanisms used for handheld electronic devices are often “ports” or copies of those applied in the context of desktop computers or other stationary computers with little or no modification. These types of locking mechanisms do not take into consideration the unique environment and context in which handheld electronic devices are used relative to desktop computers.
Password locking mechanisms on handheld electronic devices, for example, are typically copies of password locking mechanisms used by desktop computers in which the device will be locked if it has not received an input from the user for a predetermined amount of time. For example, if the handheld electronic device has not been used for 30 minutes, the device will be locked and its display will be turned off. To unlock the handheld electronic device, the user must perform a predetermined action such as entering a predetermined password. Within the locked state, little if any interaction with the handheld electronic device is permitted apart from prompting and detecting performance of the predetermined action, such as the entry of the predetermined password, when the user attempts to use the device in the locked state. This type of locking mechanism fails to exploit the differences between a handheld electronic device and a desktop computer.
Thus, there remains a need for handheld electronic devices and methods which take advantage of unique aspects of mobile devices to provide increased convenience for the user of the device and/or increased security.